I have taken many river cruises over the past few years, my last one was late last year (2012) and although it was just for two nights it was an experience that has stayed with me till now . Vivid memories of historic towns seen at a relaxing pace, superb food with great wine are all features that I believe can make a persons holiday. That’s why we at Citiescapes have been promoting them for the past six years and that’s why we have also moved all our river cruising to our brand new website “Cruisescapes”

To throw some facts and figures at you ; The USA has experienced astonishing growth in European cruising coupled with the popularity of the holiday that Europeans have been enjoying for the past decade leads to a pace of growth ten times that of ocean cruising.

Why? Well USA Today seem to have a view on it and this is what they reported.

“The relaxed pace and easy access to city centers are just two reasons why river cruising is on a roll,” says USA Today. “Even with the recession, River Cruises and Waterway Holidays are growing at double-digit rates this year.”

I’d go further and say that river cruising is more laid-back and intimate than most ocean cruising. With fewer than 200 passengers per ship there are no queues to embark or disembark, no waiting in line for meals or crowds to overwhelm ports. It can also be more sociable than ocean voyages.

Unlike many ocean voyages, you can walk right off the ship into town whenever you like. No tendering ashore. No long drives to a destination.

Maybe you can visit the same cities and towns on a coach tour but consider this you only have to unpack the once. You are not packing and unpacking every second day. You get to see the cities and towns that you want without the hassle of checking in and out of hotels and no traffic to contend with.

Because river ships dock right in the center of town, cruising the inland waterways offers far easier entree to a region’s heartland — whether small medieval villages or grand historic capitals.

Furthermore, the size and configuration of river vessels guarantees that every cabin is “outside” with a coveted river view. And calm, shallow waters prevent any motion sickness of being at sea.

In 2012 we have expanded the choice of rivers you can now cruise from Ireland to, for example how about the Mekong River Where we have an 8 night river cruise from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia with an addition 2 nights in Siem Reap, Angkok and 3 nights in Bangkok>

We have increased our frequency on our Russia Uncovered cruises going from St Petersburg to Moscow and Moscow to St Petersburg.Featuring the waterways between St. Petersburg & Moscow and vice versa, including the Volga River & Lake Onega. This has been a tremendously successful tour for Citiescapes since we introduced it in 2008.